


Better For the Trouble

by Estel



Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: Brotherhood, Brothers, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-28
Updated: 2013-10-28
Packaged: 2017-12-30 17:18:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1021332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estel/pseuds/Estel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint tiredly contemplates why he’s letting his stupid brother live with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Better For the Trouble

**Author's Note:**

> I just had some feelings and they ended up written down.

The sun was peaking over the rooftops of Brooklyn when Clint Barton came stumbling in from a night of hard work. He was exhausted after buddy-jumping out of a quinjet with Thor to make it to their mark for the night’s drop on a suspected Hydra compound. The mission went well, but for Hawkeye it was all in a day’s (or night’s) work. He was just happy to be home.

As he dropped his gear against the kitchen counter, the sofa, and nearly everywhere else in his place, Clint staggered and dragged his way to the stairs that lead to his bed. Down to just his pants, underwear, socks, and shoes once he reached the loft, he realized there was a fault in his plan.

Poking out of his big fluffy covers was a head of messy, short, ginger hair belonging to Barney Barton. His dreams of just flopping into bed slowly slipping away, Clint wandered over, ready to shove his free-loading brother out of his bed, but stopped short.

Just below the poorly-cut head of hair was Barney’s slack-jawed sleeping face and suddenly unwanted memories came back to him of holding Barney’s body close shy of twenty-something years ago after he’d been seemingly killed. Now he was alive, here, sleeping in Clint’s bed.

When he’d first come back, Clint barely had time to enjoy the moment as Barney had been set on killing him at the time, but the bad blood between them had been set aside because, Barney was, after all, his only living family. And Clint had made up his mind to blame the real man responsible, Zemo.

When they were kids, Clint adored Barney. It wasn’t until they were older that anything came between them. At first it was little stuff, but then it was the Army. Clint smiled at the memory of how it felt to have a brother with such noble intentions. Clint never thought he could measure up. When Barney left that first time Clint remembered seeing the bus go and how alone he felt that first time.

Somehow, having Barney back now, even if he was smelly and annoying, was better than being without him. All of his real emotions remained inside unprocessed, but he knew he was better having him around than not.

With that decided, Clint stumbled his way around his bed, flopped down with his boots still on next to his drooling brother, and fell asleep as the sun pushed through the curtains.


End file.
